The American Jewish Congress on the Artukovic Bill
This letter was sent on behalf of the American Jewish Congress to the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in response to Congressman James Utt's introduction of a bill to grant permanent residence in the United States to Ustase Interior Minister Andrija Artukovic. The author appears to be at pains to restrain his outrage that a man who presided over the concentration camps of the NDH, and who furthermore entered the country with forged identity papers on a mere travelers' visa, has been proposed for this "amnesty of one" in total contradiction with the spirit and the letter of the law. Two years later, Utt reintroduced this bill; the text can be read here. An excellent overview of the thirty-five year history of Artukovic's extradition is available here.

 

February 13, 1959

Hon. Emanuel Celler
Chairman,
House Judiciary Committee
House Office Building
Washington 25, D.C.

Re: H.R. 2844

My dear Congressman:

On January 19, 1959, Representative James B. Utt of California introduced a private bill, H.R. 2844, for the relief of Andrija Artukovic. This bill, if enacted, would in effect suspend the deportation of Artukovic ordered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1953, and deem him lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. The American Jewish Congress urges that the private bill be reported unfavorably because it believes that Artukovic, formerly Minister of Interior in the Nazi puppet state of Croatia, is unworthy of such special legislation.

Artukovic entered this country illegally from Ireland in 1948 with an Irish identity certificate but under a false name. His petition for readjustment of status under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 was denied and a final order of deportation has been pending against him since 1953.

In 1951, the Yugoslav Government filed a petition in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California requesting the extradition of Artukovic for murders and other crimes committed in Yugoslavia during World War II. An extradition hearing was conducted by Commissioner Theodore Hocke in Los Angeles between June 6 and July 8, 1958. Commissioner Hocke limited his function to determining whether there was sufficient competent evidence to justify Artukovic's trial for murder under the laws of California. He ruled that the Yugoslav Government had failed to produce such evidence, by American standards, to hold Artukovic on a charge of murder. The evidence at the hearing, however, demonstrated that he is morally unfit.

After Yugoslavia's collapse in 1941, Artukovic became the first Minister of the Interior of the Independent State of Croatia, established by the Yugoslav quisling, Ante Pavelic, with the open and armed support of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Croatia was never recognized by the United States or any of its allies but was recognized by Germany and Italy. On the contrary, our government fully recognized the Yugoslav Government-in-Exile.

Artukovic's tenure at the Ministry of the Interior was characterized by great brutality. As Minister of Internal Affairs, Artukovic was responsible for the establishment of concentration camps in which great numbers of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies were destroyed. Introduced in evidence also was an issue of the official Croatian Gazette, which reprinted a speech by Artukovic delivered before the Croatian Parliament on February 24, 1942. In that speech he said the Croatian nation "could not act otherwise, but to clean its national body from such poisoned, dangerous creatures and voracious parasites: Jews, Communists and Freemasons." In the same speech Artukovic stated that Croatia had "solved, with an energetic and sound interference, the so-called Jewish question."

Certainly, the United States Congress is under no obligation to adopt emergency private legislation to grant permanent residence status, with its attendant possibility of naturalization, to a man who was in charge of concentration camps in a totalitarian state, who entered this country illegally under an assumed name, and who has given no indication by word or deed of any repentance or change of views. If the private bill in his relief is defeated, the United States Congress will at least have shown its abhorrence of the acts for which Artukovic is morally responsible, even though he perhaps cannot be proved guilty of murder under our statutes.

In the event that your Committee holds public hearings on this matter, we shall be grateful for the opportunity to appear and present our point of view.

Sincerely,

Dr. Joachim Prinz

 

:: filing information ::
Title: The American Jewish Congress on the Artukovic Bill
Source: Private Collection
Date: February 13, 1959 Added: October, 2002